Warriors of God… I know this is a heavy subject for some, but I decided to start out the men’s forum blog area with something that I believe will be a help to you. God cares about every area of our lives and He wants to see us walking in liberty. We are family here, and prayerfully, you will find a safe place to be set free.
CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS
II Corinthians 10: 3-6 (For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Okay Warriors... here is a sure fire way to beat the enemy in the area of lust / pornography / fantasy etc….
I Corinthians 10: 3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
Many of God’s people are tempted and end up walking in the flesh, but our battle against these enemies that wreck havoc in our lives and cause us to walk contrary to God’s desire for us are not taken down and defeated in the flesh.. God has called his men to be mature warriors who depend not on the arm of the flesh, but on spiritual weapons. So bearing that in mind let’s take a look at verse 10:5 and see just how we can use some of God’s weapons to win the victory.
II Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
While reading this scripture one day in preparation for a Men’s Seminar, it jumped out at me and I saw something in the spirit. One of the primary areas the enemy tries to capture men in his net is in the area of pornography. It is insidious and many men won’t share their hidden secret, shame or pain about this area in their lives with anyone. So, they are left to battle this demon of lust on their own. But while reading the scripture above, I saw a picture of a man on a horse throwing a rope up in the air and grabbing his own thoughts of lust and every high and lofty image (by the way an image is not real and that is what we see in pornography an image that is NOT real… it is our imagination that runs wild in our mind.. anyway the thoughts were lassoed and taken into CAPTIVITY. Every thought that would exalt itself above the knowledge of what God would want in our lives brought into a place of obedience to Christ Jesus.
So, this is what I saw.. the temptation with images comes to our mind. We immediately come into a place of warfare and get on our battle-ready horse, grab our lasso and take hold of the false images… we pull them down and tell them out loud if necessary that they will NOT exalt themselves against the knowledge of God .. and we bring every thought captive in our hearts and minds into obedience . We are actually using the word of God to overcome this enemy. It has been said we can’t help a bird flying over our heads, but we can prevent it from making a nest. Some of us have a nest of lustful images that we have allowed to imbed in our heads and make a home there. We need to evacuate the nest.
It is interesting to note that when the apostle Paul talks about spiritual warfare the first weapon he mentions is casting down imaginations. ... Our battle is to bring down every deceptive argument and every imposing defense that men erect against the true knowledge of God. We fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ.
Paul makes it very clear that we are involved in a war! In this battle with pornography/false images/lust/fantasy.. the battles will not always be on the same level of intensity. In true warfare there are lulls in the battle at times as one side or the other prepares to make the next push or they are preparing a new strategy. Rest assured the enemy will regroup when he sees you are taking a strong stance for God and will be getting ready for the next attack. So make sure you keep your armor on.. and stay alert and do not let down when the enemy appears to be silent. In other words, have your lasso ready!
And remember if God calls us to temperance He already has a way for us to totally walk in it. In the New Testament the most common Greek word for self-control is temperance, KJV. Its root meaning is power over oneself or self-mastery. Self-control, is really mastery over our own passions. It holds our appetites in check, and it controls our rational will or regulates our conduct without being swayed by sensuous desires. I pray for each one reading this word that the Lord will help strengthen them in their inner man to walk in temperance. That they will know they are warriors in God’s kingdom and will be willing to do the battle to take the place of integrity God has for them.
I think the most amazing verse in this whole passage II Cor 10:3-6) is the last one. God is so amazing!!! He states after we have gone through these passages and have learned how to overcome, we will have the opportunity to help others who are battling the same thing… we will be ready to avenge the enemy and his plans to tie the noose around someone else’s neck as he tries to entrench other believers. Once God is sure of our obedience, we will be ready to punish every disobedience. Meaning we can lovingly help a brother out of this same mess!!
(II Cor 10:6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled
Blessings to you Lasso wielding Warriors of God,
Rev. Joe Geertz
II Corinthians 10: 3-6 (For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4-For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5-Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6- And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled
